One Saturday night when I was about nine years old, I found myself lying in bed, leafing through a hardcover book of biographical sketches while half watching a movie on the small black-and-white television set in my bedroom. Perhaps I was watching a film starring Spencer Tracy, because at one point I turned to his … Continue reading When David Lynch went to Philadelphia
All The Essays
2024 Election Analysis Archive
ELECTION 2024 DASHBOARD As of November 5, 8:03 AM EST Presidential election: Polls assessing Democratic Vice President Kamala D. Harris and former Republican President Donald J. Trump are divided into those which do (weight: “number polls/3”; n=87) and do not (weight: “number of polls”; n=288) include Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. When given the option, I … Continue reading 2024 Election Analysis Archive
Assessing Kamala Harris’ running mate choices
On the evening of July 22, 2024, Vice President Kamala D. Harris secured enough endorsements from delegates to the Democratic National Convention to become the de facto 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. Three days later, Harris announced she would choose a vice-presidential running mate by August 7. During the early summers of 2016 and 2020, I … Continue reading Assessing Kamala Harris’ running mate choices
Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 7 (My 100 Favorite Artists and Conclusion)
Having spent four essays detailing how difficult it is to rank one’s favorite music with both objectivity and methodological rigor (here, here, here, here), then using one such method to rank my 100 favorite tracks and albums, I conclude this series with an examination of my favorite artists and some final thoughts. As with every … Continue reading Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 7 (My 100 Favorite Artists and Conclusion)
Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 6 (My 100 Favorite Albums)
In five previous essays (here, here, here, here, here), I detail how I used appearances on 434 mixes (August 1981 to November 2023) and total plays to calculate a score for 9,560 tracks. Using these Track Scores (“TS”), I ranked my favorites from a tie for #7,529 (2,032 tracks with one play and no mix … Continue reading Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 6 (My 100 Favorite Albums)
Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 5 (My 100 Favorite Tracks)
In the first four essays in this series (here, here, here, here), I detail the evolution of the 434 music “mixes” I have created since August 1981. These mixes migrated from cassette to CD to 150-GB flywheel iPod, with a handful of videocassettes added along the way. As of April 2024, I have put 3,625 … Continue reading Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 5 (My 100 Favorite Tracks)
Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 4
In the first three essays in this series (here, here, here), I detail the evolution of the 434 music “mixes” I have created since August 1981, when I recorded 14 current favorite tracks onto a 60-minute cassette, calling it “My Stuff,” by putting a speaker from my stereo turntable next to a hand-held tape recorder, … Continue reading Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part 4
A Somewhat Wicked Early Look at the 2024 Presidential Election
Our first look at the 2024 elections ends with the biggest prize of all: the presidency of the United States. Following big wins by Republican former president Donald J. Trump in the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary, it is reasonable to assume a rematch of 2020, except now Democrat Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is … Continue reading A Somewhat Wicked Early Look at the 2024 Presidential Election
A Somewhat Wicked Early Look at the 2024 U.S. Gubernatorial Elections
We turn now to the 11 gubernatorial elections scheduled for 2024. Currently, there are 27 Republican governors and 23 Democratic governors; Democrats have not held a majority of governor’s mansions since 2010. As with my recent preview of the 2024 Senate elections, this “somewhat wicked early” look is based almost entirely on “fundamentals,” or what … Continue reading A Somewhat Wicked Early Look at the 2024 U.S. Gubernatorial Elections
Will Democrats recapture the House in 2024?
In my last essay, I took a (somewhat) wicked early look at the 34 United States Senate elections scheduled for 2024. I now turn to the 435 elections for the United States House of Representatives (“House”) in 2024. Specifically, I assess the probability Democrats gain the minimum five seats they need to regain the House … Continue reading Will Democrats recapture the House in 2024?
Just Bear With Me... 